Choices
by SapphireMind
Summary: Set during and after the new webshow "G.I. Joe: Resolute".


AN: First, of course Hasbro owns everything. I own nada. Hell, half the dialogue was written by someone else.

This is a collection of scenes, real and created, set during the new webshow "Resolute". I wanted to add a written narrative to some scenes, and I just wanted to invent others. The first scene is verbatim from the show. Second is invented, third is real, fourth invented, fifth no dialogue, six is from the show, seven and eight are invented. Just so no one thinks I came up with the dialogue in certain sections. That belongs to the writers of the show.

Anyway, I hope you like. I was glad to have some new source material to inspire me.

O o o o o o o O

"Good. Now go." With the last words spoken by Duke, Snake Eyes walked out of the medical bay, slowly, waiting to see if Scarlett was going to follow him.

Scarlett watched Snake Eyes go over Duke's back as he tenderly covered up Bazooka's body. She knew where he was going, and that part of him wanted her to go with him. She could see him lingering at the doorway for her to follow, as she so often did.

Duke's rough voice startled her out of her reverie. "You can go with him, or stay with me. Your call. Make it now." His voice was harsh, and she sensed that it wasn't solely because of the body on the slab before them.

"You mean, stay with the unit," she said cautiously. She had a complicated history with her first sergeant. He had always come just close to the line with her, but backed away before it could be crossed. And she always went back to Snake Eyes.

"You heard what I said." His voice was challenging her, daring her.

"Just like that?" He was going to make her chose between the two men, not promising anything from himself. Part of her flared with anger at that expectation.

"Just like that." He was firm.

She understood what he wanted in that moment. He wanted to either be able to let go of her entirely, or cross that line, knowing that she wasn't using either man as a backup. "Then I stay." That was it. For better or worse, she made her decision. It hurt to see Snake Eyes walk away, his posture slightly defeated. But she had made her choice and didn't chase after him, staying by Duke's side as she watched him go.

O o o o o o o o o O

As the door to the medical bay closed behind Snake Eyes, a grunt of a sob came out of Duke, taking Scarlett completely by surprise. "God damn it. He was a good soldier, a good man." His head was still down, hands using the slab for support.

She placed her hand on his shoulder, "Yes, he was." He turned and took her into his arms, embracing her tightly.

"And ten million people, gone in the blink of an eye. Who knows how many more will die next, how many from our team." The pain was clear in his voice. Scarlett just held him tightly. She was shocked; he had never let her see this side of himself before. It scared her a little. He straightened after a moment. "I'm going to stop this, or die trying. I am not going to let him get away with these massacres."

She looked up at him, meeting his blue eyes with her green, "_We're_ going to stop this. I made the choice to stay with you, and God help me, I meant it." His face had cleared of the anguish; the anger and determination she was more used to, now visible on his face.

"Good." Duke gave a half-smile, kissing her forehead quickly, then turned and walked out to get the next briefing.

O o o o o o o O

"Reaching that place is going to be a one-man job." Duke finished his plan with a simple sentence, and every person knew he meant himself for that job. It was highly dangerous and there was a good chance that whoever did it wouldn't make it back alive, and Duke didn't want any of the rest of his men to shoulder that risk.

"Or a two person unit." Scarlett added, much to the shock of everyone in the room, including Duke. To cut off his chance to protest, she looked at Wild Bill. "Have we got more hypersonic transports on the way?"

He grinned a sly grin. "Yes ma'am, we've got one thirty minutes away, then I guess I'm flying the pair of you to Siberia." He knew southern women and he hoped that Duke knew what he was getting into with Scarlett; she was a wildcat.

O o o o o o o O

"What in the hell was that?" Lady Jaye had followed Scarlett back to her quarters as she gathered the things she would need for the mission.

"I'm going with Duke to Siberia," she said drily, "what did you think it was?"

Jaye frowned, "I heard Snake Eyes went after Storm Shadow." Scarlett nodded silently as she continued to gather things. "He left you behind?!"

Scarlett turned, her voice laced with frustration, "No! I didn't go with him." She ran her fingers through her hair uneasily. "Look, it's all very confusing right now. Duke asked me to make a choice. I did. I'm going with it." She turned her back to Jaye again, now walking to the armory to see what weapons were still viable to take.

"What do you mean, he asked you to choose?" Jaye hurried after her, shocked. Her best friend had been part of an uneasy triangle since before Jaye joined the team. Snake Eyes loved Scarlett, Scarlett felt flattered and obligated by Snake Eyes, but loved Duke, and Duke…he loved his job, and couldn't muster the balls to put that on the line for a relationship with Scarlett. "What does that mean?"

She rounded on Jaye, "I don't know what it means. I don't know if he knows what it means. But I chose to stay with him and not go with Snake Eyes, and I'll be damned if he's leaving me behind now." Her temper was definitely up now, "Bastard better not die out there, because then I'll never know what it means."

Jaye couldn't help but laugh at her friend's outburst, despite everything. "Alright then. Go, follow your bastard, come back alive and then you can figure out the details." Scarlett rolled her eyes and stalked away.

O o o o o o o o O

"_Damn damn damn!_" Duke thought to himself as he rolled away from more gunfire. He had been shot and while it wasn't going to kill him at this moment, he was not of incredible use to the mission.

His stomach clenched when he heard Zartan's voice. He heard Scarlett trying to get Zartan to walk away. That was not a good sign. There's only one reason she would be trying to bargain with an enemy combatant: she was trapped and absolutely screwed.

Well, Scarlett might be better at computers and being a ninja, but he was still one hell of a shot. He managed to get himself up and line up a good shot just as Zartan was leveling his own gun at Scarlett. Not hesitating at all, Duke squeezed the trigger and took the other man down.

He fell to his knees as Zartan dropped and the world went a little gray for a moment, but he was happy. Zartan never got the chance to pull the trigger, Scarlett was ok.

O o o o o o o o O

"The way I see it, there's only one way to break it." She spoke over her shoulder while searching the computer system.

"What's that?" Duke's voice was strained, and she couldn't help but be worried. He had been shot and he wouldn't let her look at the wound to determine the severity.

She pushed that thought from her mind though, focused on the task at hand. "I can set the reactor pile to detonate. There's a six minute cycle in the original warhead system." She was already navigating her way to the right part of the program, knowing Duke would agree with her choice.

"Do it, then bring in the hypersonic transport, then get yourself out."

She turned towards him, saying sharply, "Me?" She stared at him hard, grasping the implications of what he said.

"Look at me, it's going to take me six minutes to stand up." She didn't try to argue; he was not in great shape and it must be worse than he was letting on if he was going to send her ahead. "Set it and get moving. The transport will get you out of range before the place goes up. I'm not going to get out of here in time. Do as I say." She heard the tone of desperation enter his voice.

She stared at him for a split second more, then turned back to the terminal, typing in the keystrokes that would ensure that the whole base was going to blow to kingdom come. "There. Done." She turned back to Duke, not moving.

"Now go. That's an order!" She heard the frustration and pain in his voice, trying to get her to leave him behind to save herself.

She leapt down the staircase easily. "Oh to hell with your orders. It's taken me years to sort out in my head what I want, who I want, and today I did. I'm staying with you, for all the time I have left, and if that's only six minutes, then damn it, I'm spending my last six minutes with you." She stubbornly sat herself down next to Duke, not sure what was going to come next. But, she was staying with him, come hell or high water. She felt his hand reach over to hers and squeeze. It felt like it was directly around her heart, knowing that she finally made the right decision.

Duke turned to her and opened his mouth to say something, when all of a sudden they heard a voice on their comms, "_Yeah, I know I'm breaking radio silence, but we just picked up signs of activated nuclear warheads. Anything you want to tell us up here?_"

Duke clenched his teeth, "Aw, for - Ripcord! Would you get out of here? The pile's set to detonate and I'm wounded enough to make climbing out of here a pipe dream." She could have sworn he might have been more upset at being interrupted as his teammate putting himself in danger and disobeying orders.

"_Well, how about slidin'? I can see a big ole hole in the ground that I figure I can shoot a line down. While you can't hover these things while ten miles up like Tunnel Rat was hopin' for, down here in the nice think atmosphere, I can stand right over the silo._"

Scarlett was about to cry in relief, it wasn't going to be over. Duke was going to get out, as was she. "I love you!" she blurted out, over the comm, then looked quickly at Duke's startled and shocked face, speaking off mic, "Him, not you, you're a big jerk." She would have punched him at this point, but seeing as he was already shot, she settled for a grin and they got to work to escaping.

O o o o o o o o O

Back on the transport, she sat next to Duke, helping him get his layers of clothing off to examine just how bad the bullet wound was. Her stomach turned over when she saw the oozing wound on his right side. She probed it carefully, noting the faint bubbling coming from the wound. "Lung's punctured," she said, looking up at him, surprised he was still able to walk around at all. She placed a moist, thick bandage over the wound, trying to prevent the air exchange.

"That's why I have two, just in case one goes bad," he quipped. Scarlett looked back up at him, her hands still on his chest, feeling the distance between the two of them close, when all of a sudden, he backed away and barked out, "Sit rep!"

Scarlett turned quickly to see Ripcord walking up to them. She was grateful at that moment that the lighting onboard was largely red, so no one could see her blush of embarrassment as Ripcord updated them as to what was happening.

--

After the battle was finally over, at a military hospital often used by the Joes when the treatment needed went beyond what their docs were able to give, Scarlett sat beside Duke's bedside, holding his hand lightly. He was still unconscious after surgery. She felt, rather than heard, that someone had entered the room. She turned and saw Snake Eyes there.

"_He going to be ok? How did they convince him he needed to be treated?_" he signed to her, looking at her right hand gently closed around Duke's left.

"I'm sorry Snake Eyes," she whispered quietly, then continued to answer his question. "Yes, he is. He's already breathing on his own again and there were no complications. Brass threatened him with desk duty if he didn't get properly fixed."

The ninja nodded. Despite everything, he and Duke were good friends. He knew it was going to end this way; he never even had a chance. Shortly after he had taken Scarlett as a student, he had fallen in love with her. He knew she admired him and cared for him, but also that she had fallen hard for the blonde first sergeant, no matter how much she denied it. "_He better do right by you,_" he signed, then bowed deeply to the two of them and walked out of the room.

Scarlett watched Snake Eyes walk out of the room, then turned her attention back to the man lying in front of her. She cared for Snake Eyes, but it wasn't how he needed to be loved. She gently touched his face and smiled when he opened his eyes. "Hey, sleepyhead. How are you feeling?"

Duke took a deep breath experimentally, coughing shallowly in pain at the end of the breath. "Better actually. Like I have two lungs again."

"Good. I know you can't wait to get back out in the field," Scarlett said, still smiling. Duke hated to be sick or injured, and she could tell how miserable he was, being in a hospital. "The boys brought you some real clothes, and Roadblock promised to make you some soup."

Duke chuckled, "Thoughtful." His eyes traveled down to his hand, still intertwined with hers, gripping her tighter when she nervously tried to pull away, then back up to her face. "I'll have a couple days off though, to recuperate. Are you going to be swamped at work without me?"

A sly smirk played across Scarlett's face. "Are you trying to ask me out, Duke?"

He raised an eyebrow questioningly to her, "I think, all things considered, maybe you could start calling me Conrad." He brought his other hand up to her face, bringing it down to meet his in a kiss.

_**end**_


End file.
